1/ I am a third-year medical student. Yesterday, I was assigned a new patient. I hadn’t met them yet, but knew they had presented with liver-related symptoms. In preparation for morning rounds, I flipped through their chart and checked their lab work.

2/ I also took a few minutes to review the physical findings of liver disease—I scanned through pictures on Google of spider nevi, ecchymosis, and palmar erythema.

3/ Satisfied that I was prepared, I set off. I found the patient’s bed, knocked on the wall, and drew back the curtain.

The patient is black. I had only seen photos of the physical findings on white skin.

4/ There are two main problems here: First, my search (and my medical school lectures) had only showed me these findings on white skin. Second, I failed my patient by falling into the trap of my own privilege—I assumed they would look like me.

5/ Neither of these problems are new. Advocates have been working to improve racial representation in #MedEd for years. But for me, this interaction brought into focus my own gaps—created both by the system, and by my own learning and biases.

6/ This short interaction highlighted for me the challenges faced by black patients and other BIPOC who have no choice but to use a healthcare system that was not designed with them in mind.

7/ Patients are left seeking equal care in a system that is entirely built on white skin and epidemiology. And this doesn’t even begin to touch on the factors that led this patient to seek care at all.

8/ As a future health care provider, swimming in my own privilege, I cannot be neutral. I commit to learning more and doing better. #BlackLivesMatter #DoingTheWork

9/ In addition to learning about physical findings on non-white skin (thank you, @BrwnSkinMatters), here are some important things I’ve learned today:

Thanks to all who took time to read and comment. I'm linking just a few of the Black healthcare professionals and researchers I admire. #amplifymelanatedvoices @bmsacanada @HG_Annan @GWChealth @OmiSooreDryden @Muthee_T_B @NMHheartdoc @DrTariqParker @MyronRolle @KeishaJeff56